Deaf student creates music video to song of his favorite artist

Larry Dishaw, 63, left, looks down at his grandson Christian Hamby, 15, who smiles while his grandmother and Dishaw's wife Susan as the three share a moment in the living room on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013 at their home in Swartz Creek. Larry Dishaw was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April, and Hamby was born both deaf and with mitochondrial myopathy, a rare form of muscular dystrophy with no known cure. Susan Dishaw tends to both of their needs. Jake May | MLive.com

SWARTZ CREEK--Christian Hamby might be deaf, but he still loves music.

Hamby, a student at Michigan School for the Deaf who was recently profiled by MLive-The Flint Journal, is particularly fond of the Detroit-based musician Sean Forbes, a musician who was born deaf.

Hamby, who also has a rare muscular disease, recently made a Yourtube video of himself signing the words to the song "Watch These Hands." (See below.)

He's always been a fan of Forbes, but recently had the chance to meet him.

According to a letter between Forbes and someone who works with his nonprofit, D-PAN, which is aimed at bringing more music and culture to the deaf community, Forbes recounted the time he made a surprise visit to Hamby's home.

"I was humble about the visit, but he asked me if he could post pictures on facebook and I said sure...... Sure enough all of the kids at school were immediately jealous, (writing), 'Why didn’t Sean stop by my house too!!!' which was awesome because here is a kid that everyone at the school looked at very differently and now were immediately treating him with utmost respect. I’ve always wanted to make sure that these kids learned from this experience that no matter what walk of life each of us might experience, we must all treat each other the same," Forbes wrote, later adding, "He's a great kid."

Hamby's grandmother, Susan Dishaw, set up the visit. She wrote to Forbes to tell him how much his visit meant to Hamby.

"Sean, you inspire so many kids, but with Christian he has not been the same since you came into his life," she wrote.

According to MLive-Flint Journal files, Hamby has always enjoyed signing the words to Forbes's music, but on Aug. 19 he decided to share that passion with the rest of the world on Youtube.